How to say "attire" in Japanese

• 服装ふくそうJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounCovers 'attire' in its most general sense: the clothes a person is wearing or the way they are dressed. Use it for neutral descriptions of someone's clothing or for questions of suitable dress.
  あなたは服装ふくそうの趣味しゅみがいい。↗

  You have good taste in clothes.
• 身なりみなりJLPT N1approx.Common
  nounCovers 'attire' as personal appearance: how a person is dressed and groomed, viewed from the outside, whether neatly or untidily. Typical when commenting on or tidying up someone's appearance.
  こんな身みなりで外出がいしゅつするのは気きが引ひける。↗

  I'm ashamed to go out dressed like this.
• 装束しょうぞくCommon
  nounCovers 'attire' in the sense of costume: distinctive dress, often traditional or ceremonial, rather than everyday clothing. For ordinary attire it is seldom the word you want.
• 服飾ふくしょくCommon
  nounDenotes clothing and accessories as a combined category or field of dress. It is seldom the word for the attire a particular person is wearing; that sense calls for a different term.

Use 服装 for what someone is wearing in general, 「身なり」 for how neatly or smartly a person is dressed, 装束 for costume-like or ceremonial dress, and 服飾 for clothing and accessories as a category.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 服装ふくそうattire
• 身なりみなりdress
• 装束しょうぞくcostume
• 服飾ふくしょくclothing and accessories
• 職服しょくふくuniform (for a profession)